CEFA is happy to announce the additions of BlackRock and Legg Mason to the Association. We look forward to the impact these industry leaders will have on the association's main goal of educating investors and advisors.

Brigade Leveraged Capital Structures Fund Ltd. (“Brigade LCSF”), with Brigade Capital Management, LLC (“Brigade CM”) and Donald E. Morgan, III, disclosed, as holders of Auction-Rate Preferred Shares (ARPS) of PIMCO Income Strategy Fund II, that: “on May 3, 2013, Brigade CM and Brigade LCSF sent a notice to the secretary of the Issuer, in accordance with the requirements set forth in the Issuer's fourth amended and restated bylaws, of their decision to nominate Alan Bruce Miller as a Preferred Shares Trustee of the Issuer at the Issuer's Annual Meeting.”

Most taxable leveraged CEFs utilized auction rate preferred stock (ARPS) pre-crisis. Since then, these CEFs have refinanced into traditional senior debt at lower leverage levels. According to a Fitch Ratings study, these CEFs may increase leverage by up to $4.2 billion in the aggregate by issuing preferred stock and diversifying their funding structure in the future. This trend has already been observed in the MLP CEF sector.